160420: Taoism, the whole/Whole and panentheism
How do the concepts of Taoism reinforce the concept of panentheism?
‘…Taoism began in China, probably around 300 BC; a life in harmony with nature; the word is also used to mean reality as a whole, which consists of all the individual ways.
–World Book Encyclopedia, p. 27
‘… reality as a whole, which consists of all the individual ways.’
Taoism is simply saying the whole is the sum of its parts; total awareness is nothing less than the summation of all awareness.
The concept of panentheism is nothing less than Taoism yet more than Taoism for panentheism also accepts the potential of the Whole verses the whole being the summation of its parts PLUS the addition of its discrete parts remaining intact within the whole or summation of parts.
At a minimum panentheism holds to the concept of the whole being composed of its many parts.
As a minimum, total awareness is the summation of individual pieces of awareness.
The perspective of the size of the universe may be somewhat larger than it was around 300 BC when Taoism first began but the principles are the same.
We may now be thinking in terms of the universe being a part of what it is immersed within but that in no way makes the concept of the whole being composed of its parts any less meaningful.
Panentheism is not a concept of the 20th century. Tillich, Northrop, and Whitehead had no monopoly on this concept.
Hinduism and Taoism embraced the basic concept long before the word panentheism existed.
How do the concepts of Taoism reinforce the concept of panentheism?
‘…Taoism began in China, probably around 300 BC; a life in harmony with nature; the word is also used to mean reality as a whole, which consists of all the individual ways.
–World Book Encyclopedia, p. 27
‘… reality as a whole, which consists of all the individual ways.’
Taoism is simply saying the whole is the sum of its parts; total awareness is nothing less than the summation of all awareness.
The concept of panentheism is nothing less than Taoism yet more than Taoism for panentheism also accepts the potential of the Whole verses the whole being the summation of its parts PLUS the addition of its discrete parts remaining intact within the whole or summation of parts.
At a minimum panentheism holds to the concept of the whole being composed of its many parts.
As a minimum, total awareness is the summation of individual pieces of awareness.
The perspective of the size of the universe may be somewhat larger than it was around 300 BC when Taoism first began but the principles are the same.
We may now be thinking in terms of the universe being a part of what it is immersed within but that in no way makes the concept of the whole being composed of its parts any less meaningful.
Panentheism is not a concept of the 20th century. Tillich, Northrop, and Whitehead had no monopoly on this concept.
Hinduism and Taoism embraced the basic concept long before the word panentheism existed.
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